Former astronaut Charles Bolden got to know Marshall Space Flight Center during his four space shuttle missions and understands the importance of moving forward with developing a replacement to the 37-year-old shuttle program, Huntsville space experts said.

As a former astronaut with 680 hours in space, it would be impossible for Bolden not to have a grasp of the roles and missions performed by not only Marshall Space Flight Center, but also Redstone Arsenal and Huntsville, said Dr. Owen Garriott, a former Skylab and space shuttle astronaut who worked with Bolden in the 1980s.

"He certainly knows Huntsville. It goes beyond propulsion and engineering science; you don't fly on four shuttle missions and not know what the roles Marshall Space Flight Center, and Huntsville, perform in missions such as basic science and research along with other development programs. He's been here," Garriott said.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bolden takes over NASA at a time when human spaceflight and NASA's future is being reviewed by an outside panel of aerospace and academic experts. That outcome could shape the types of work, or balance of responsibility, Huntsville and Marshall have in the future with regard to launch vehicles and science, said Huntsville attorney Mark McDaniel, an aerospace expert who advises members of Congress on space and science issues.

"The team of Charles Bolden and Lori Garver will support and understand Marshall, I think. He's certainly well known here for his work on shuttle missions. His mission in delivering the Hubble Space Telescope (in April 1990), alone exposed him to all facets of Huntsville, but he had three other missions and left NASA as a top deputy administrator," said McDaniel, who served on the NASA Advisory Council from 2000-2005. "It's my understanding that during his meeting with the president he expressed support for the types of work Huntsville does for NASA."

Garver, 48, worked extensively with Marshall to map out science, research and future rocket development in the 1990s, McDaniel said. "She's also a big supporter of education programs, and those are very important to members of Congress," he said.